We Know We Belong

1 John 3:19-23 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
 
OUR third “we know” lesson is we know that we belong to the truth.
    How do you react to that? My first thought is, “Does this seem prideful? What about people who say, ‘My way or not at all. You cannot change my mind. You Christians are arrogant to think there is only one truth.’” How does a surrendering, humble, loving heart make such a definite statement?
    John says a true disciple of Christ can say this with absolute authority and knowledge. When you speak it as a confession and you understand it as God’s blessing, you will be humble in spirit. You will speak with a mind surrendered to the Living Word, who teaches you of life eternal. What great assurance this is! To know that we belong to the truth is a faith statement that deeply anchors your relationship with the Holy Trinity. As we see it in the context of 1 John, the apostle is separating Jesus from the world. He is the Word from the beginning. Who else would be true but Jesus? What else would be true but God’s words, plans and actions from the beginning of time?
    Nothing is true outside of God. That’s why the unfaithful, restless world cries out, “What is true?” Our nature causes mankind to seek truth from within ourselves and God-opposing ideas. This is another element of the original sin. Satan turned Adam and Eve to seek truth from their desires, not from God.
    John is the one who recorded Jesus’ words, John 14:6b “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  That’s bottom line. It is precise. There is no other boundary. The truth is in Jesus.
    John also wrote 26 times in his gospel of Jesus declaring, “I tell you the truth.” The one who died in truth and rose again in truth to God’s prophecies proclaimed the true way to life everlasting.
    We know, then, we belong to the truth when we do these four things: 1) seek his truth 2) strive to live his truth 3) acknowledge our sins 4) defend his truth. We know we belong to the truth when it is our heart’s precious possession. We know we belong to the truth because our lives become a real experience of life working for the good, living toward purpose and meaning. You know truth when you know his commands, and you obey them.
    This isn’t complicated. Why do people strive so against the truth toward a self-directed, wandering life. A truth-centered life is joy. Try it, and you will know.
 
Life Thought: To know you belong to the Truth is God’s will for you.